BY PHILIP FITZPATRICK

DONALD DENOON is an historian interested in political development in Papua New Guinea and his novel, Distrust Territory, is set in modern PNG.

The narrative of the novel, while interesting in itself, is primarily a vehicle for exploring the relationship between PNG, Australia and the behemoth to the west, Indonesia.

Donald has a wry sense of humour which made his earlier history of PNG, A Trial Separation, an easy and enjoyable read. He also has other histories to his credit, including Getting Under the Skin, about the Panguna copper mine on Bougainville.

Distrust Territory is, I think, his second novel. The first, Afterlife, was about St Peter calling in a management consultant to reorganise Heaven.  That might give you an idea of the sense of the ridiculous that Donald uses to good effect in this new book.

The story involves a teacher, Allan, who once taught in PNG, and his naive daughter, Rebecca, who manages to get herself beaten up by bird smugglers somewhere near the West Papuan border.

The incident sparks alarm bells in the intelligence communities of all three countries and opens a floodgate of absurdities that these kinds of happenings often generate.

Along the way we also get a view of the parlous state of PNG, its bleak future and Australia’s role in the whole thing.

Australia is depicted as an impotent bystander growing weary of propping up a failed state, and with no desire to take on another basket case like a free West Papua.

The Australian view is that the gradual takeover of PNG by Indonesia is inevitable and the name of the game is not to rock the boat or upset anyone while this happens. This view is a bit dated, given the emergence of China in the Pacific, but the mechanics are the same.

This and other issues are explored largely through monologues spoken by the key characters.  Some of these are quite long, and the author has indented them in paragraphs reminiscent of a work of non-fiction.

I’m not sure that this works that well because it is sometimes difficult to identify who is actually speaking and it’s necessary to re-read passages to get things right.

Some of the monologues involve old cherries, like whether PNG became independent too soon.  I doubt whether the average person in PNG thinks much about this issue. The only people who can’t seem to let it go are the retiring boomers in Australia who once worked in PNG and have reached that reflective state that seems to inevitably afflict the elderly.

Perhaps this geriatric analysis is driven by a sense of guilt, the need for absolution and the laying of blame at someone else’s door.  Whatever the cause, the fact is that in PNG the question is irrelevant.

The vehicle for this particular monologue is a grizzled ex-kiap working in Foreign Affairs. He is delightfully described as a ‘retreaded kiap’.

There is a Papua New Guinean love interest, an exploration of various relationships and a resolution of sorts - which takes a re-reading to get straight (perhaps I’m just dumb?).

It’s a good book, not too long (199 pages) and there is plenty of fodder to make the brain cells work.  Hopefully the author will do it again soon.

The book is a joint publishing venture between the UPNG Press & Bookshop and Masalai Press, curiously based in Oakland, California – maybe it’s a front for the CIA?  In any case, all power to UPNG Press & Bookshop.

Distrust Territory by Donald Denoon (2010) is co-published by UPNG Press & Bookshop and Masalai Press. Available through www.pngbuai.com/buybooks or at Amazon for about $30 plus postage and handling.